Southland Conference recap for 02-26-2010

ARLINGTON, Texas – Jason Mitchell struck out a school and Southland Conference record 18 batters and held a no-hitter through 8.2 innings, but it took UT Arlington 14 innings to capture its first win of the season with a 1-0 victory over Missouri State on Friday evening at Clay Gould Ballpark.
Mitchell and Adam Boydston combined struck out 26 Missouri State hitters, which set a new school and Southland Conference record and tied the NCAA all-time record. The Mavericks won the game on a walk-off single up the middle by designated hitter Steffan Guest to break the scoreless affair in the bottom of the 14th inning. Logan Bawcom, who entered the game at first base in the eighth inning, scored the winning run after leading off the 14th with a single up the middle.

“That was the best starting pitching job that I have seen since I have been at UTA,” Mavericks coach Darin Thomas said of Mitchell’s performance. “I have been here 10 years and have seen a lot of games. I don’t know how you can do much better than taking a no-hitter into the ninth and strikeout 18. He was outstanding.”

The Mavericks’ pitching duo of Mitchell and Boydston combined threw 14 innings, allowed only two base hits and two walks while striking out 26 hitters.

Mitchell struck out at least two hitters in every inning he pitched except for the eighth frame, and he struck out the first two batters of the ninth inning before Missouri State lead-off hitter Travis McComack hit a full-count single up the middle to break up the no-hit bid.

Mitchell is the first Maverick in the history of the program to carry a no-hitter 8.2 innings. There have been five no-hitters in UTA history, but all have come in seven-inning games. The last Maverick no-hitter came in 1983 (Duane Mitchell at Baylor).

“I was definitely locked in and had everything working,” Mitchell said.

“Between innings I would just sit there and watch our guys hit, but it was definitely running through my mind,” Mitchell said about the possible no-hitter. “I have had good outings before in my career but this was by far my best.”

Boydston’s eight strikeouts are a career-high and he also allowed just one hit and one walk in five-innings of work to help the Mavs to their first win of the season.

“You can’t dismiss what Adam did either, that is a tough situation to come into,” Thomas said.

Guest (2-for-7) and catcher Chad Comer (2-for-6) were the only players with a multi-hit game while junior Michael Choice’s 15-game hitting streak was snapped as he went 0-for-3 with four walks (one intentional).

“I came up my previous at-bat and had a runner in scoring position and didn’t get the job done,” Guest said of his pop out to second base in the bottom of the ninth. “I just waited on my pitch in that final at-bat and drove it up the middle. You have to have a short memory in this game. It felt great to get that hit.”

The Mavericks and Bears continue their weekend series with a 2 p.m. first pitch on Saturday, Feb. 27, at Clay Gould Ballpark.

Southeastern (5-0) remained unbeaten as it defeated previously unbeaten Mississippi State (4-1) for the first time in 10 games. The series resumes Saturday at 1 p.m. before concluding Sunday at 1:30 p.m.

Franklin (1-0) pitched the final 1.2 innings to earn the win for the Lions, who took a 1-0 lead on a leadoff home run by Cody Gougler in the second inning. Franklin, who replaced starter Tyler Watkins, uncorked a wild pitch that allowed Jonathan Ogden to score from third before giving up a one-out double to Nick Vickerson.

Franklin issued two-out walks to Luke Adkins and Connor Powers to load the bases, but got Russ Sneed to line out to center field to end the game.

Southeastern, which improved to 5-0 for the first time since 1998, snapped the tie in the top of the ninth scoring the go-ahead run off Bulldog reliever Caleb Reed (0-1). Josh Cryer led off the frame when he was hit by a pitch and eventually moved to second on a passed ball.

Mississippi State reliever Devin Jones then hit Philip Freeman with a pitch and walked Chad Gough-Fortenberry to load the bases before Sparacino hit an opposite-field single to drive in Cryer.

The next batter, Trey Martin, then delivered a two-run single up the middle driving in Freeman and Gough-Fortenberry and giving the Lions a 4-1 lead.

Watkins pitched 7.1 innings in his second start for the Lions, allowing five hits and striking out four. Gough-Fortenberry led Southeastern at the plate with two hits while Cass Hargis, Justin Boudreaux and Cryer added hits for the Lions to key an eight-hit attack.

Nick Routt scattered six hits and fanned six in eight innings of work for Mississippi State. Ogden went 3-for-4 at the plate to pace the Bulldogs.

Central Arkansas 12, St. Louis 5

CONWAY, Ark. – Central Arkansas Bears pounded out 17 hits in taking a 12-5 victory over Saint Louis University on Friday in the first game of a three-game series at Bear Stadium.

The Bears, who are averaging more than 13 hits in four games this season, improved to 2-2 on the year, while the Billikens fell to 2-2.

UCA, which left the bases loaded in the bottom of the first inning without scoring, came through with at least a run in the next five consecutive innings, including three runs in each of the second and fourth frames. A three-run home run from junior catcher Michael Pair was the big blow in the fourth.

Senior pitcher Michael Wild threw 6.1 innings for the Bears, striking out five and allowing two earned runs. Sophomore lefthander Dustin Ward came on and got the final eight outs, allowing just one hit.

The Bears, after giving up a run in the first, got three back in the second. Senior shortstop Bobby Pritchett doubled down the left-field line and advanced to third on Zack Dickson’s infield single. Jordan Getchell walked to load the bases before Greg Noble’s sacrifice fly scored Pritchett. Getchell stole second base then scored along with Dickson on a wild pitch that bounced away from SLU catcher Ben Braaten.

The Billikens cut the lead to 3-2 in the top of the third but UCA answered with two runs in the bottom of the inning on a pair of triples. Pair led off with a double to the gap in right center and Jake Fuller tripled down the right-field line to score him. Designated hitter Jonathan Houston tripled to the same spot, scoring Fuller for a 5-2 lead.

Leading 8-2 in the fifth, the Bears got two more runs when pinch hitter Matt Bauer singled to second base and later scored on Getchell’s single up the middle. Getchell went all the way to third when the St. Louis center fielder misplayed his hit, which also allowed Zack Dickson to score.

In the sixth, UCA got a single run on Pritchett’s RBI single up the middle that scored Pair. The Billikens, who had only six hits in the game, put up three runs in the top of the seventh. Danny Brock had a two-run single and Mike Levine scored on an error. UCA added one more run in the eighth with Pritchett’s RBI single that brought home Evan Harris.

Ward set the Billikens down in order in the eighth and ninth to close it out.

Pritchett, Pair and Harris all had three hits for the Bears, with Pair getting 3 RBI and scoring three times. Pritchett had two doubles and two RBI while Harris scored two runs.

The Bears and Billikens will continue the series with 1 p.m. games both Saturday and Sunday.

UTSA 4, Indiana State 2
SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Junior Tyler Carpenter ripped a two-run triple down the right-field line with two down in the first and UTSA received another quality start from junior left-hander Matt Crocker in a 4-2 victory against Indiana State on Friday night in the opener of this weekend’s four-game series at Roadrunner Field.

The Birds improved to 3-0 and continued their best start in a dozen years, while the Sycamores (3-1) dropped their first game of the spring.

Senior Lance Brown got the opening frame started with a one-out infield single to Indiana State starting pitcher Jacob Petricka and he promptly moved to second on a throwing error by the right-hander on the play. Brown moved up a base on a wild pitch during junior Ryan Hutson’s at bat, but UTSA’s second baseman was unable to bring him home on a sharp grounder to third. Junior Brett Aguilar then drew a five-pitch walk and Carpenter followed with a liner down the first-base line when he was down in the count, 0-2.

That would be all the offense Crocker (2-0) would need as he continued his hot start to the campaign.

The Kingwood, Texas, native kept the Sycamores off the board in all seven of his innings, allowing just five singles and a walk, in addition to striking out four. Only one runner reached third base – that came in the fourth – and just one other reached scoring position. He faced 26 hitters in the 101-pitch (67 strikes) gem and only four were able to send balls out of the infield on the 55-degree, windy night.

“Carp did a great job of getting us on the board early with a big hit and that made my job easy tonight, Crocker said. “It definitely was a pitcher’s night, so I focused on throwing strikes and letting them get themselves out. I felt really comfortable out there and, anytime you can get a win, it’s a great night.”

UTSA added a run in the second when senior Jeff Taliaferro crossed the plate on a bases-loaded wild pitch by Petricka and another six panels later on an Aguilar walk with the bases filled with Roadrunners.

Junior righty Taylor Walton relieved Crocker to start the eighth and picked up his second save of the year despite allowing things to get interesting in a two-run ninth. Walton gave up three hits and fanned one in his two frames.

The Roadrunners had multiple opportunities to blow the game open, but they stranded 14 runners on the night.

Sophomore Casey Selsor had two hits to pace UTSA at the plate and sophomore Jason Mohn added his second double of the year with two down in the fifth.

Petricka (1-1) saw his record even out after surrendering three runs on three hits and five walks in his four innings of work.

Luke Fieser was 2-for-4 and Grant Grgurich, who pinch hit in the seventh and remained in the contest at second base, added a pair of safeties off the bench for Indiana State.

Baylor 3, Texas State 2
WACO, Texas – A sacrifice fly in the bottom of the eighth inning sent the go ahead run home for the Baylor Bears and Texas State did not have an answer in the top of the ninth, and suffered its first loss of the season in a 3-2 decision Friday afternoon at the QTI Baylor Classic in Waco, Texas.

Texas State falls to 3-1 on the season and will face Western Kentucky tomorrow evening at 5 p.m. Western Kentucky will play Texas A&M tonight as part of the six-game tourney.

Michael Russo started on the mound for the Bobcats. The senior went six innings, allowing two runs on eight hits in the no decision. Carson Smith was issued the loss in his two-inning stay, allowing a single hit and one unearned run, walking one batter and retiring one on strikes.

Shaun Garcia led Texas State at the plate, going 2-for-3 with a run scored and a single RBI. Garcia was the only Bobcat to tab more than one hit in the team’s six-hit performance.

Baylor finished with nine hits, including two in the first to score their first run of the game. A pair of base hits put runners on the corners with no outs, and a groundout RBI put Baylor on the board.

Garcia initiated Texas State’s comeback with a leadoff double down the right line on a 3-1 count, and Jordan Kopycinski followed with a double to right center to plate the senior and tie the game at 1-1.

In the top of the sixth, Jason Martinson was hit by a pitch, followed by a single to right field from Kyle Kubitza to put the Bobcats in position to take the lead. Freshman Daniel Neumann advanced the pair of a long fly ball down the right line, and Garcia came through again with an RBI single up the middle to send Martinson home and put the Bobcats on top.

Baylor answered with small ball in the bottom of the frame, pushing Dan Evatt to second on a sac bunt after his leadoff single up the middle. Raynor Cambell followed with a base hit down the left line and the Bears matched the score, 2-2.

In the top of the seventh, Texas State mimicked the Bears with a leadoff single from Sibley who advanced to second on a sac bunt from Bret Atwood, but Baylor reliever Josh Turley shut down Martinson and Kyle Livingstone to end the threat.

In the top of the eight, Kubitza drew a leadoff walk, but was stranded on base before Baylor’s comeback stanza. With one out and runners on first and second, a potential double play was spoiled on a Bobcat fielding error and Baylor reaped the benefits to shift runners to the scoring corner. Gregg Glime followed with a sacrifice fly to left field and sent in what proved to be the game-winning run.

Brooks Pinkard closed out the game with a 1-2-3 top of the ninth, and earned his third save of the season. Turley was credited with the win after a one-hit two-inning stint on the mound.

Nebraska 21, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 9
HOUSTON, Texas -Nebraska handed Texas A&M-Corpus Christi its first loss of the season winning 21-9 in the first game of the Rice Invitational at Reckling Park.

The loss drops the Islanders to 3-1 on the season, while Nebraska moves to 2-3 on the season. The Islanders take on Elon on Saturday at 1 p.m. before the closing out the invite on Sunday at 3 p.m. versus the host Owls.

The Islanders jumped out to an early 2-1 lead after two innings of play.

Trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the second, Marc Damon ripped a double down the left field line. Jacob Perales followed by painting the right field line with a triple into the corner scoring Damon off Cornhusker starting pitcher Sean Yost. Holland’s RBI single pushed the Islanders in front 2-1.

“We had a chance early to extend our lead and had a couple of bad at bats that got us on our heels,” Islander coach Scott Malone said. “We didn’t extend it and then the dam wall broke.”

The Huskers awoke in the fourth and scored 18 runs in their next four turns at the plate to take a 19-3 lead. Tyler Farst driving in five runs including a three-run home run in the top of the fourth that made it 7-2 at the time. Cody Asche drove in three runs while five others had two RBI apiece.

The Islanders would score four runs in the seventh, while both teams scored a pair in the ninth. Trey Hernandez, who finished 4-for-5 with six runs batted in, blasted a three-run home run in the seventh and a two-run shot in the ninth. He now has three home runs in the past two games and nine RBI. Chris Vergne and Matt Holland each had two hits for the Islanders who finished with 12.

Nebraska finished with 19 hits in the game, but also benefitted from 11 walks and two hit batters by the Islander pitching staff and three errors. Entering the game, A&M-Corpus Christi pitchers had nine walks combined in three games.

Sean Yost (1-0) earned the win for the Huskers as he allowed three runs on seven hits, while striking out five in six innings. Ian Campbell took the loss for the Islanders dropping to 1-1. He allowed seven runs with six earned in 3.2 innings. Campbell struck out four and walked four. Trevor Foss followed but left after three batters due to injury. Six other relievers followed with only Chris Pena not allowing a run tossing a scoreless eighth.

“We got exposed in the bullpen today,” Malone said. “It is part of a process. We are trying to give everyone a chance to see what they can do. There is still a lot time and we aren’t going to panic.”

Utah 12, Sam Houston State 4
HUNTSVILLE, Texas – A grand slam home run by C.J. Cron, a three-run homer by Devin Walker and a solo shot by Austin Shackelford powered Utah to a 12-4 baseball victory over Sam Houston State Friday night at Don Sanders Stadium.

Jordan Whatcott (1-1) was the winning pitcher for the Utes while Dallas Gallant (0-2) took the loss. Brandon Kimbrel and Jacob McMurtry threw in relief for the Kats.

Senior designated hitter Devin Walker gave Utah a quick 3-0 lead with a two-out home run to right center in the top of the first inning.

Sam Houston’s first scoring opportunity came in the fourth inning when junior center fielder Mark Hudson led off with a triple to right center. The next two batters lined out and Greg Olson struck out swinging to leave Hudson stranded.

Utah loaded the bases in the top of the fourth inning with an error, a single and a walk. Sophomore catcher C.J. Cron laced a shot to right center for a grand slam home run to put Utah up 7-0.

Junior catcher Doug Oney started a three-run fifth for the Bearkats with a double to right, scoring Chris Andreas. The junior designated hitter led off the inning with a single and reached second on an outfield error. Hudson added an RBI single and junior left fielder Michael Heard stole home on a first and third double steal play.

Left fielder Austin Shackelford’s lead off solo home run to right extended the Ute’s lead to 8-3 in the sixth.

Freshman outfielder Greg Olsen singled then scored on a fielding error after reaching third on a single by Ryan Mooney for Sam Houston’s fourth run.

Utah and Sam Houston will meet in a 1 p.m. doubleheader Saturday at Don Sanders Stadium. The pair will complete the four-game weekend series with a 1 p.m. single game Sunday.

McNeese State at Louisiana Tech, Postponed
RUSTON, La. – The McNeese State vs. Louisiana Tech baseball game that was scheduled for 6 p.m. on Friday has been postponed due to thunderstorms in Ruston, LA.

The two teams will now play a double header on Saturday, February 27 with the first game starting at 1 p.m. and the second beginning 45 minutes after the conclusion of the first.

McNeese (3-1) and Louisiana Tech (3-1) will take to the field for the third and final game of the series on Sunday as planned with a 1 p.m. start time.

Bryant at Nicholls, Postponed
THIBODAUX, La. – Friday’s game between Nicholls and Bryant has been rained out. The 2010 Big Boy Classic will resume Saturday, when schedules call for clear skies all day. Bryant and Nicholls will begin at 1 p.m. The Nicholls vs. Tennessee-Martin game will still be at 7 p.m.

North Dakota State at Lamar, Postponed
BEAUMONT, Texas – Friday’s Lamar-North Dakota State baseball game at Vincent-Beck Stadium has been cancelled due to heavy rain in Southeast Texas.

The teams will open their series on Saturday with the originally scheduled doubleheader at noon. The final game of the weekend set remains at 10 a.m. on Sunday.

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